VOW Directors: Vivian (left) and Pooja (right)

Vivian Wenli Lin

Vivian Wenli Lin is a Taiwanese-American media educator, video artist, and documentary filmmaker. But above all, she is an advocate of the advancement of women in all aspects of society around the world. She has devoted many years as a certified domestic violence counselor for the Asian Women's Shelter in San Francisco where she worked with women and children to transition into a violence free life. As an artist, women's stories and issues are ongoing themes in her own work. She has screened in various festivals worldwide and has been featured in several feminist video activism exhibitions and panels in San Francisco, New York, Bucharest, and Rome. Her works can be seen at: www.vivianwenlilin.com
Vivian is a recipient of the 2004 Nia Initiative Award from New York University for increasing Asian American profiles in the New York City community for Fortunes for Cookies - a 10-week video workshop for seven young Asian women in New York City. The project aimed to use digital video to create concepts and produce a body of work that communicates personal experiences and identity as Asian American women. The aim was to reach out to the youth community to inspire them to think critically about the mainstream media, stereotypes, representation, and the effects these things might have on their identity, and also to give them resources and lessons on using digital video to express their ideas. Being comfortable with technology as a tool for self-expression was an important goal of this workshop. These young women created short videos that were personal narratives, which varied from family expectations, instances of racism, existential questions about life, and growing up Asian in America. A public screening was held for the participants and their friends and family at New York University. The following year, the videos were featured in the "For Youth By Youth" program at the 2005 New York Asian American International Film Festival. Watch the videos at: www.hellokittyisdead.com/ffc

Pooja Pant

Pooja Pant is an experienced community worker from Nepal who is currently hosting a weekly radio show where she offers world music and news to the listeners of 88.3FM Radio Patapoe in Amsterdam. For Pooja, it does not matter how many people are listening to her show, what matters is that she is able to express her views freely. She strongly believes in the importance of having a voice in the media because it is a powerful tool for expressing what truly exists in our society.
In San Francisco, Pooja worked together with community activists and artists in various projects. She was part of a team of artists who worked with migrant youth to paint a mural against racial violence after the 9/11 attacks. In London, she was actively involved in the South Asian Women's Domestic Violence Center, helping women and children relocate and establishing them with life skills for financial independence.
In 2005, Pooja Pant co-founded A.I.M., an organization in London working with marginalized youth on various media skills such as web design, radio, documentary filmmaking and journalism. She worked with mainly Turkish youth who are the children of refugees to train them in desktop publishing and work skills.
Pooja has also worked with Stichting ISH in Amsterdam, training a group of at-risk youth aged 18-23 years from various communities in art by co-painting a public mural in a 2-week long workshop. Currently, Pooja is working with Samenwerken Media Entertainment (SME) in Amsterdam. SME is a Surinami community media center that has multicultural TV programs and Radio shows on the local Amsterdam TV station. Pooja is a strong believer in multiculturalism and internationalism.

Listen to Pooja's radio show (ENTER THE DRAGON!)on Fridays from 10am - Noon (Central European Time) on Radio Patapoe.